Stan "The Man" Stasiak is best known for defeating Pedro Morales on December 1, 1973 for the championship. Stasiak only held the title for 9 days dropping it to Bruno Sammartino on December 10th. Stasiak's only title defense was December 7th in North Attleboro, Massachusetts a no onctest with Chief Jay Strongbow. The Jack Witchi's Sports Arena in North Attleboro held 1500 fans and hosted wrestling frequently until it burned down in 1979.

This was not the Macho Man of old, he wrestled in a long sleeve black shirt and pants. He only appeared for the closing moments of the match but was able to beat up everyone before reversing a sunset flip into a pin.

Macho Man passed away May 20, 2011

Ultimate Warrior
June 25, 2008 NEW Summer Tour, Barcelona, Spain
defeated NEW Champion: Orlando Jordan to win the title

It was Warriors first match in ten years and he didn't look like the Ultimate Warrior. He had the face paint, trunks and tassels, but short gray hair and not the physic he once had. He won with a shoulder tackle.

Warrior passed away April 8, 2014 the Tuesday after WrestleMania XXX weekend where he was inducted in the Hall of Fame, appeared at Mania, and appeared on Raw cutting a powerful promo.

Yokozuna
October 10, 1999 Heroes of Wrestling PPV, Bay St. Louis, MO
with Jake Roberts lost to Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart & King Kong Bundy

This is the last recorded match I can find of Yoko. When he died he was in Liverpool, England on a tour for Brian Dixon's All Star Wrestling, I can't find and record of any matches he may have participated in.

Yokozuna passed away October 23, 2000

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Saturday, December 24, 2016

I recently was looking through the vault section of WWE Network in the AWA and found four of their supershows, including the only AWA PPV just listed in the TV section. The shows are this one here, Super Sunday, WrestleRock 86 and Superclash II.

Guerrero's get the win after a moonsault press from Mando onto one of the RMP's. Ok match basically a squash. - Ray Stevens on Color Commentary

WCCW Light Heavyweight Championship: Jeff Jarrett vs. Eric Embry

Embry was a solid hand in the ring, but there is no way in hell he was a Light Heavyweight. Very short match only 4 minutes really no time to get it going, Embry gets the win on a roll up to capture the title for the fourth time.

Incidentally, Cactus Jack would go on to defeat Embry for the title on 12/30/1988 for a five day reign if that tells you how much they watched the scale in this division.

Women's Champion: Wendi Richter & The Top Guns: Derrick Dukes & Ricky Rice defeated MAdusa Miceli & Tag Team Champions: Bad Company: Paul Diamond & Pat Tanaka w/ Diamond Dallas Page
This was a ridiculous cluster of a match! First off another short less than 6 minute match where they tried to get too much in. This would have been better off with Madusa and Richter having a singles match. Richter got the pin on Madusa after Tanaka accidentally superkicked Madusa.
After the match Top Guns were announced as the new tag team champions, but as Madusa was pinned the titles officially never changed hands.

Greg Gagne vs. "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin for the vacant International Television Championship
Garvin had defeated Gagne for the Championship in September and at some point the title was held up after a controversial match. Another match under 6 minutes, not a bad match but it should have been given more time. The finish was abysmal as Gagne defeated Garvin by count-out to claim the vacant title.

P.O.W.W. Lingerie Street Fight Battle Royal

The Syrian Terrorist defeated Bambi, Peggy Lee Leather, Laurie Lynn, Brandi Mae, Malibu, Nina, Pocohantas & Luna Vachon last eliminating Brandi Mae.
Two ways to be eliminated, either having your clothes stripped down to your lingerie or being thrown over the top rope to the floor. This was garbage!

Boot Camp Match: Sgt Slaughter vs. Colonel DeBeers w/ Diamond Dallas Page
This was a no rules, no referee in the ring come as you are. Slaughter wore his combat helmet into the ring. In the opening moments it sat edge up in the ring, DeBeers accidentally took a bump on it, looked very uncomfortable and it appears to slightly lacerate his back. The action spilled to the floor and Slaughter went for a pin attempt, so I guess it's falls count anywhere.
In less than six minutes Slaughter won with the cobra clutch, of course the referee had to enter the ring to call the match. Adnan Al Kaissie and The Iron Sheik attacked Slaughter after the match. Ironic because in just over two years these three would be programmed together in the WWF.WCCW Tag Team Champions: The Samoan Swat Team: Samu & Fatu w/ Buddy Roberts vs. Michael P.S. Hayes & Steve Cox
Decent match, almost 8 minutes!!! Hayes had a member of the SST pinned after a DDT when Buddy Roberts clocked him when the referee wasn't looking allowing the SST to retain.

Indian Strap Match: Wahoo McDaniel vs. Manny Fernandez
This was a great match, as expected between these two. They really beat the tar out of each other, and bloodied each other well before Wahoo hit all four corners taking home the victory.

AWA World Champion: Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. WCCW World Champion: Kerry Von Erich
This is the famous match where Kerry was playing around with the blade in the locker room and cut himself on the arm before the start of the match. At the start of the match they had Lawler slam his arm on the "ring post" to explain the blood.

This match was ok, and being the only match to go longer than 9 minutes, it lasted 18, it probably shouldn't have. Kerry was busted open and the finish came when Kerry had Lawler down in the Iron Claw and the referee stopped the match due to cuts.

The Rock 'n Roll Express: Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson vs. The Stud Stable: Robert Fuller & Jimmy Golden
So this is the last match on the card, it's a decent match until the finish where the match was thrown out for no real reason fora double disqualification. Great way to end the card AWA.

There are twelve matches on this card with only one breaking the nine minute mark and that was the Championship unification match. In my opinion none of the other matches even had a chance to really get going as they were over just as the guys got warmed up.

Of all the AWA super shows on the network this is the worst and sad that this is also AWA's only PPV and this is what they deliver. It's no wonder they only drew 1600 fans to a 9500 seat venue.

The AWA would have Superclash IV April 8, 1990, by then they had fallen so far that they didn't even have television cameras at the show. The AWA would officially close it's doors just over a year later.

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Ivan Koloff's career began in 1961 in Canada. Be came Ivan Koloff in 1967 is most famously known for ending Bruno Sammartino's historic near 8 year championship reign leaving the Madison Square Garden crowd silent. Essentially Koloff ending his in ring career in earnest in 1994 returning to the ring over 10 years later wrestling sporadically until his final match with Bullet Bob.

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Here is tape #2. WCW Uncensored 1995. Keep in mind while
reading this that they put this show over big time as having no rules and being
unsanctioned.

Match 1: The Blacktop Bully defeated Dustin Rhodes in a King of the Road Match.
This was awful. Why was this even a thing let alone a thing that went about 10
minutes. It was a match inside of an 18 wheeler trailer that appeared to be
designed to haul hay, that was going down the road. The object of of this match
was to sound a horn that was mounted on top of the trailer. They had a really
hard time standing up since the truck was going down the road and taking turns.

This is the match that got both Dustin Rhodes and The Blacktop Bully fired from
WCW because the violated the no blading policy that WCW had.
1.5/10

Match 2: Meng w/Colonel Robert Parker defeated Jim Duggan in a Martial Arts
match with Sonny Onoo as Special Referee. Well the first match was awful so why
not continue with that trend. I guess I don't understand what the rules of a
martial arts match are because this was just like a normal except the referee
had on a karate gee. This was really boring with a ton of rest holds and Duggan
being his usual dumbass self. The end came when Robert Parker distracted Duggan
allowing Meng to hit a superkick for the win.
2/10

Match 3: Johnny B Badd w/Roc Finnegan defeated Arn Anderson w/Colonel Robert
Parker in a Boxer vs. Wrestler Match. The rules were that Johnny B Badd had to
wear boxing gloves and could only win by knockout. Anderson being the wrestler
could win by pin or submission. The match was scheduled for 10 3 minute rounds
with a 1 minute rest period between rounds.

For the first 2 rounds Anderson got
annihilated so he just attacked Badd during the rest period before round 2.
Anderson had the advantage for round 3. During the rest period after round 3,
Roc Finnegan cut off the glove on Badd's left hand, allowing him to take it off
and knockout Anderson with a taped fist.
5.5/10

Match 4: Randy Savage defeated Avalanche by DQ. Yes thats right Savage won by
DQ on a show that has no rules. This was a solid match until the finish. It had
a good story and solid action. The end came when Ric Flair dressed in drag came
out of the crowd and attacked Savage. Flair and Avalanche double teamed Savage
until Hulk Hogan came out to make the save.
6/10

Match 5: Big Bubba Rogers defeated Sting. This match was kinda average. It was
great but it didn't suck. Sting had his leg worked on for most of the match.
The end came when Sting tried to slam Rogers but couldn't because of his knee.
Rogers fell on him and got the pin. What a terrible finish.
5/10

Match 6: The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) defeated Harlem Heat
(Stevie Ray and Booker T) w/Sister Sherri in a Falls Count Anywhere match. This
was one of the worst brawls I have ever seen. The brawled to the concession
stands and basically had a food fight. There was so much shit on the floor that
nobody could stand up. It was basically a 2 on 3 match because Sherri was
involved almost the entire time. The finish was terrible just like the rest of
the match. They didn't even get it on camera. It had to be shown on the replay.
Knobbs slammed Booker on pieces of a funnel cake stand and got the pin.
Terrible.
3/10

Match 7: Hulk Hogan w/The Renegade defeated Vader w/Ric Flair in a Strap match.
This was awful. I have never seen a good strap match and this one didn't break
that streak. First off there was not referee which right off the bat said this
was gonna be a cluster. The Renegade is an idiot with absolutely no talent just
like the guy he was impersonating. Flair still had on mascara from earlier in
the night. This isn't starting well. Hogan dominated the first few minutes.
About 5 minutes in Jimmy Hart comes to ringside with his clothes torn to
pieces.

He had apparently been held hostage backstage. Then a few minutes later
a masked man came out and attacked The Renegade with a wooden chair, then he
suddenly disappeared. Flair then got another wooden chair from his secret stash
he had at ringside and attacked Hogan. This allowed Vader to drag Hogan around
to 3 corners. Flair then put the wooden chair under Hogan and told Vader to
splash him off the ropes. Vader went for a somersault but missed and wrecked
himself on the chair. Flair dragged Vader to the outside. Hogan then puts the
strap on Flair and drags him around to all for corners for the win even though
Flair wasn't even in the match. Vader then comes back in and attacks Hogan
until Renegade comes in with yet another wooden chair. This brings out another
masked man. Arn Anderson comes out tied up in the masked man suit. Randy Savage
then unmasks as the other masked man. The faces then celebrate in the ring. The
crowd was freaking out for Savage. This was terrible. Why anybody thought this
was a good idea blows my mind.
3.75/10

This show sucked. The best match was slightly above average and had a terrible
ending. This was really bad and should be avoided unless your obsessed with
wrestling like myself.

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Thursday, December 15, 2016

Even though it's mid December, based on my work schedule I can't imagine I'll be attending another wrestling event this year. In 2016 I attended a meager 6 wrestling events. I think my buddy Roy went to six shows last month.

I mean I took in a lot of wrestling with my podcast and all the shows on the WWE Network, and the internet, but I managed to only make it out to six events which makes me sad as I type this.

However these six shows featured the greatest match I have seen live, the second greatest match I have ever seen live, sitting front row at the biggest production wise show I have ever been to, and one of the most unique venues I have ever been to for a show.

With out a doubt the biggest show I have ever sat front row at both match and production wise. Also very lucky to have traveled to this show with great friends, Jay, Roy, Josh, Mikey, & Jesse. This match featured the best match that I have seen live in my entire life. Ladder Wars 6: The Addiction vs. The Young Bucks vs. The Motor City Machine Guns.

I simply couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Zack Sabre Jr. and Chris Hero standing across the ring from each other on a snowy night in middle of nowhere Maine. I looked right at my new friend Bradford and he said, "I can't believe this is actually happening in the ring in front of me". This was the greatest match that I had ever seen live in my entire life. They held nothing back and went all out in a match that rivaled anything I had seen them do in PWG.

This show was part of the BanGOREfest Convention and was held at the UMO campus. The building was quite large with a very high ceiling. It felt very odd for a wrestling show. This show featured the return of Cameron Matthews to the ring, sadly the match didn't turn out like I think he hoped it would. Main Event was Brian Fury vs. Brian Cage, Fury is on his retirement tour and this was the last time that I would see him live.

This show was held in the back of a restaurant in what I can only conclude was a metal roof and wall addition that featured all the electrical for the building and a giant walk in cooler. The floor was even slanted, and I don't mean slightly. It is the most unique venue I have ever seen a wrestling show in. The main event featured "Remarkable" Adam Booker defeated Ace Romero in crazy no holds barred match. My first time seeing Booker in the ring in over 11 years and he was just as good as I remember.

First IWE show in over a year. This night featured "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas who even at 62 is still capable of putting on a match and entertaining the crowd. The best match on the card was Maine State Champion: Amon Jordan defending his title in a triple threat match against Mike Graca & Tyler Nitro. My first time seeing Graca and Nitro and I was quite impressed. Saw them both again at Limitless in October. Hope to see more of both of them going forward.

Monday, December 12, 2016

This edition we take a look at the contestants from the inaugural season of Tough Enough. I'm sure we all know what Tough Enough is her are the finer details. The first season aired on MTV from June 21, 2001 - September 27, 2001 with coaches Al Snow, Jacqueline, Tazz, & Tori. The winners of season one was Maven Huffman and Nidia Guenard.

Best known in his WWE run for dropkicking and eliminating the Undertaker from the 2002 Royal Rumble. He was also three time Hardcore champion. He left the WWE in 2005 touring the independents until 2007. He returned to wrestling in 2015 wrestling three matches to date.

Nidia
November 26, 2005 Neapel, Italy NWE Destiny
lost to Miss Jackie

Nidia wrestled and managed in the WWE leading Jamie Noble to the Cruiserweight Championship. She was released from the WWE in late 2004 and wrestled a few matches on the Independents before retiring.

Nowinski started training with Chaotic Wrestling prior to joining the cast of Tough Enough. I saw him at an independent show in Maine for Eastern Wrestling Alliance before Tough Enough. After he failed to win the show Nowinski returned to the indy's before signing with and debuting on WWE TV June 17, 2002. Sadly Nowinski suffered a career ending concussion. Since then he has devoted himself to his Concussion Legacy Foundation.

Although Mathews in ring career was short he has had the longest active career of any season one tough enough competitor. He was hired by WWE in December 2002 first appearing as a backstage interviewer and over time the advanced to Commentator on Raw, Smackdown, WWECW, and more until he left the company in 2014. Currently is the lead announcer on TNA Impact.

Taylor Matheny
Was a runner-up on the first season, she wrestled for independents in the United States and toured Arison in Japan. I can't find a definitive last match other than late 2003. In 2008 she married The Brian Kendrick and appeared on an episode of Total Divas with Kendrick as he trained Eva Marie

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Thursday, December 8, 2016

I recently was looking through the vault section of WWE Network in the AWA and found four of their supershows, including the only AWA PPV just listed in the TV section. The shows are this one here, Super Sunday, WrestleRock 86 and Superclash III.

SuperClash II

May 2, 1987

San Francisco, California

The Cow Palace

Commentator: Rod Trongard

Duration: 2 hours 28 minutes

"Rock N' Roll" Buck Zumhofe vs. Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie
This match was horribly long! First all the walk and talk of Al-Kaissie at the beginning of the match, then the super slow cadence of it made it practically unbearable. Al-Kaissie got the pin with his feet on the ropes similar to how Billy Graham pinned Bruno.

Super Ninja w/ Mr. Go vs. DJ Peterson
Super Ninja's arm gauntlets cover the back of his hands and I'm pretty sure they are supposed to be chinese stars, but they are swastika's.

This match was not as terrible as the first, but pretty darn close. 15 minute time limit draw.

World Heavyweight Champion: Nick Bockwinkel vs Curt Hennig
1 Fall 1 hour time limit
Fantastic match that went 23 minutes. Bockwinkel worked the left arm for the majority of the contest out wrestling Hennig frustrating him. As the match built towards a finish Curt attempted several pin falls but couldn't put the champion away further frustrating him. Then it appears Larry Zybyszko who was sitting at ringside handed Hennig a roll of quarters clocking the champion and getting the three count.

After the match Hennig gave Zybyszko the roll back, but Ray Stevens at ringside exposed the foreign object. A meeting in the ring with the referee, Stanley Blackburn, and Stevens leading to Blackburn declaring the title to be held up until the championship committee can review the tape.
Hennig was the babyface in the match, and the fans were excited that he won the championship.
Much like at Super Sunday the crowd chanting bullshit after the reverse decision. Eventually though the decision was upheld and Hennig was declared champion.

Six Man Tag The Midnight Rockers: Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty, and Ray "The Crippler" Stevens vs. "Playboy" Doug Somers, Kevin Kelly, & Buddy Wolfe, w/ Sherri Martel
Jannetty took a beating for a long, long time, playing what I dub the Ricky Morton roll of the tag match. He would fire up and the crowd with rise up with him, until the heal would bring him back down. When he finally made the hot tag, after at least 15 minutes of punishment, the crowd figuratively exploded! It was the hottest of hot tags!
The finish came when a minute after Jannetty finally tagged out, the match broke down and Stevens rolled up Somers in a small package for the pin. Stevens was not the legal man in the ring.

Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka & Russ Francis vs. The Terrorist & The Mercenary
Russ Francis played in the NFL for the San Francisco 49ers and he spent a lot of time on the outside of the ring in this match. Once Snuka finally made the tag Francis showed us he could handle himself in the ring getting the win with a splash off the top rope on the Terrorist. The crowd was jacked and could see many of them literally jumping up and down.

After the show was over they had a series of interviews in the empty arena with the majority of the wrestlers that were on the show.

Notes:

Ray Stevens joined Trongard on commentary for the The Women's and World Heavyweight championship matches.

This would be the fourth and final reign for Bockwinkel as champion who held the AWA World Championship an impressive 2,990 days in total.

Kevin Kelly would go onto the WWE to be Nailz.

The Terrorist is Brian Knobbs and The Mercenary Ron Fuller

Russ Francis is the son of wrestling promoter Ed Francis. He competed in the WrestleMania 2 battle royal and was one of the final four competitors. He wrestled in the late 70's while playing in the NFL.

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Contributors

Michael J. Labbe

Husband, father of three, and lover of all things professional wrestling Michael is the founder of The Wrestling Insomniac and posts unique articles about wrestling, live event reports, and regular columns The Last Match and Signed Trading Cards.

superstarreview@gmail.com

Brandon Myers

Brandon, a wrestling fan of over thirty years, enjoys all wrestling but spends most of his time watching classic Memphis and WCW matches. Brandon contributes live event reports, documentary/DVD reviews, and other assorted wrestling posts.

LuchaKoopa@gmail.com

Roy Kenny

Roy 's column Roy's Reviews focuses on reports from events he has attended and wrestling DVD's.